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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. field — farmland
  6. current — happening now
  7. lean — to bend
  8. sharp — clever
  9. field — for sport
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. current — of water
  12. cold — an illness
  13. can — to be able to
  14. current — electric
  15. cold — not warm
  16. can — a tin
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. lean — thin
  19. can — a tin
  20. cell — in biology
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. field — a subject

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com